Newly Baked

My mother-in-law, Kylie McGowan, told me that she wanted to experience the life of the younger crowd, so I took her to my husband Jerome Callen's newly opened upscale bar for a quiet drink. I had just ordered her a signature cocktail when a woman from the booth across the aisle sauntered over, wine glass in hand. Her eyes flicked over the menu on our table, and she laughed mockingly. "Seriously? You ordered the cheapest drink on the menu? Did you bring this old lady here just to enjoy the free AC? People like you should stay in the gutter. This place isn't meant for penniless people!" I rose to my feet, holding back my temper. "We're paying for our drinks here. What does our drink choice have to do with you?" But she suddenly snapped, grabbed a half-finished beer bottle off a nearby table, and swung it at my head. "My husband's the owner of this bar! I could smash your skull in and still afford the damages! Get out, you pauper! Don't be an eyesore here!" I wiped the liquor off my face as my entire body shook with anger. Then I turned away, started my livestream, and spoke directly to my followers. "Look here, everyone! I'm going live to catch a cheater. Let's go explore my husband's other home."

The marking ceremony had reached the moment when the Luna crown should be exchanged, but my mate in name only still refused to lower his head. Once Drake Blackwood bit the side of my neck and completed the marking, our 66th ceremony would finally become real. Yet his eyes stayed fixed on his phone, and he did not even look at me. All because his widowed sister-in-law, Scarlett Moore, had posted a claim-release statement an hour earlier. Her late husband had been Drake’s older brother. Under pack law, Drake was obligated to protect her. Attached to her post was a ticket for a private pack flight, showing that she would land in an hour. Drake suddenly rose and announced in a low voice to the elders and pack members that the marking ceremony would be postponed. Then he left me standing there alone, turning me into a joke before the entire pack. I calmly packed away the Luna crown, calmly apologized to the guests, and calmly saw everyone off. After that, I opened Scarlett’s latest post on the MoonNet feed. In the photo, Drake stood beside her, holding out a newly hunted moonstone. I gave a bitter smile and called my birth parents through the private pack link. “Father, Mother, I’m willing to come back now.” “I’ll accept the marriage alliance for the Frostvale Pack.”

In the seventh year of my engagement with Nathan Galloway, he has inherited everything from his dead older brother, including his newly widowed sister-in-law, Catherine Wilkins. Whenever Nathan is done sleeping with Catherine, he'll hug me and comfort me gently. "Just wait for a little longer, Jojo. Once Cathy gets pregnant, we'll have our own wedding." This is the Galloways' only condition for Nathan to inherit the family's assets. In the six months following his return to Ravelton, Nathan has visited Catherine's room 52 times. He initially started off with just one visit per month. But slowly, the visits have been increasing to the point that he now visits her once every two days. Finally, when I spend my 52nd sleepless night sitting in my room and waiting for Nathan's return, I receive the news of Catherine's pregnancy. But at the same time, the news of Nathan and Catherine's upcoming marriage breaks out as well. "Mommy, is someone getting married in this household?" As I stare at the wedding decorations in the villa, I just pull my son, Theo Huber, into a hug with a blank expression. "Yeah. Your daddy is about to marry the woman he loves. That's why it's time for us to move out." What Nathan doesn't know is that we Melshes couldn't care less about marriage.

The Moon Goddess has blessed her children with unique gifts. They each have capabilities beyond any creature can handle. Their strength is unparalleled, unquestioned. However, when her children turn against each other, blood will be spilt. What would it take to stop this inevitable bloodshed? – Jordane Samael, the dauntless daughter of the Alpha of the Eastern Werewolf Pack, was plagued by haunting visions of a sinister man with a prominent facial scar that seemed to writhe and pulse with an otherworldly energy. As the visions became more intense and frequent, Jordane realized that she was being drawn into a dark and dangerous world beyond the scope of her imagination. After months of disorder and chaos, the werewolf pack in the West had finally named a new leader: Maverick Lewis, a strong and charismatic Alpha with a reputation for ruthless efficiency. One fateful night, under the luminescent moon shining above the skies, a chance encounter between Maverick and Jordane challenged the balance between the two packs who, from centuries ago, swore never to cross boundaries again. But what if, Maverick, the newly hailed Alpha, was the only person who could protect Jordane from the maleficient being that threatened to drag her into the unknown? On the one hand, Maverick saw that helping Jordane, the daughter of the Alpha of their rival pack, would eliminate the intimidating threat that endangered his position whilst creating new conflicts and disputations among his pack. What will each of them choose? Can love triumph in the end?

To scrape together my mother's surgery money, I worked myself to the bone at this company for three straight years. My performance was always number one. By myself, I supported half the sales department. Then, a newly hired HR director decided every desk needed an AI camera, claiming it was to optimize efficiency. Every blink, every breath I took was measured and calculated by the system. "Warning. Employee Nathan Gray blinked more than twenty times within one minute. Mental distraction detected. Fine: 50." "Warning. Employee Nathan Gray took 3.5 seconds to drink water, exceeding the standard by 1.5 seconds. Slacking detected. Fine: 100." "Warning. Employee Nathan Gray's mouth corners drooped for over thirty seconds. Suspected spread of negative emotion. Fine: 200." The most ridiculous part was the way he stood in front of the entire department, pointing proudly at my data on the giant screen. "See that?" he said smugly. "This is the power of technology. In front of AI, you lazy freeloaders have nowhere to hide. Nathan, your bonus for this month has already been wiped out by the system. If you don't like it, get lost. Plenty of people are lining up to take your place." What he didn't know was that the AI system he trusted so blindly had its core code written by me. Tonight, I was going to show him what happened when he angered the one who built the machine.

Yara and Andrian. They met in an orphanage, grew up together, and together they fought every storm that shot their way. When a couple chose to adopt Yara, she turned them down, sacrificing a lifetime opportunity just to stay with Andrian, because he was the one for her. Because they only had each other. Years later, tears welled up in Yara's eyes as Andrian recited his vows to her, promising her a forever filled with warmth and love. " Excuse me, miss. You have got the wrong person. I am Andrian Fox, and this is my fiancée." Two years later after their wedding, Yara, utterly drained and heartbroken, stood next to the intimidating Fox conglomerate, looking at her husband, the same man that once promised her a forever, his gaze warm and affectionate as he looked at his said 'fiancée', a beautiful heiress, with status that equally matched the newly found Fox family's long-lost heir, Adrian Fox. With his new identity uncovered as the heir to the great Fox fortune, a beautiful heiress as his new fiancée and the bright future ahead, what will Andrian do? What about the vows that he once made to Yara? And Yara, shattered by the betrayal, broken beyond repair, will she pick herself up? Will love visit her again? Driven by pain and thirst for revenge, how far can Yara soar?

Safina “Safi” Brooks is a struggling writer who works as a personal assistant by day and as an exotic dancer by night in one of the most popular strip clubs in New York appropriately named “Fire and Desire” where she performs under the name of “Angel” unbeknownst to everyone except her roommate who is also her co-worker on her day job. After catching her boyfriend (who also happened to be the CEO of the company that she works for) cheating on her, she gets unlawfully fired and gets blacklisted on almost every corporate company in Seattle, Washington. Heartbroken by this, she decided to accept one of the private dances later that night for the club owner’s friend and breaks her own rule of strictly not sleeping with a client. And it was a rule worth breaking... Henry Alexander “Lex” Moore is the CEO and founder of Moore Industries. A widower of six years, his focus had only been in the company and his young adoptive daughter Rosella and his friends kept pushing him to loosen up and have fun ever since his wife had died of ovarian and breast cancer. He reluctantly had given in on his 46th birthday, with one of his friends booking him a private dance with one of the most sought after girls of the club, Angel. And it was the best birthday he’s had in recent years. And ever since that night, Angel never left his mind... What if the pair met again unexpectedly in a new and different environment where she is his newly hired secretary?

Suddenly, she heard a sharp intake of breath from behind her, and she spun around to face Ray. He was standing just a few feet away, his eyes blazing with anger. "Give it up, Elisa," he growled. "You can't win. You're mine, and you always will be." But Elisa stood her ground, her fists clenched at her sides. "I'll never be yours," she said firmly. "I'll do whatever it takes to break this bond and free myself from your control." ****** Nineteen-year-old Elisa is a wolf shifter trapped in a nightmare. Rejected by her fated mate, Ray, the son of their pack Alpha, she flees her pack to seek refuge with her alienated father, Harold. But Elisa's escape is only the beginning of her story. As she embarks on a journey to break free from Ray's cruel bond and overthrow her uncle, the Shifter King, she discovers dark secrets about her family and herself. Along with her newly formed allies and true love, Elisa fights to reclaim her power, her freedom, and her destiny. But as she gets closer to her goal, she faces unexpected betrayals, dangerous enemies, and a powerful force that threatens everything she holds dear. Will Elisa emerge victorious, or will she fall victim to the darkness that haunts her? Only time will tell in this thrilling shifter romance.

Silas, the Alpha King’s illegitimate son and the son of an infamous warrior who was also the Alpha King’s childhood lover, was abandoned by his true father when his grandfather, Alpha King Nobi explained to him as an Alpha prince the high expectations for his life. As a result, Silas’ mother, Althea the warrior was banished from the kingdom when she was just a month pregnant for Silas as even her lover turned his back on her and denied her publicly. Her pack shuns her, forcing her and her family to give up their titles. On a lie his mother told, they were forced to seek refuge and the only pack willing to take them in with no questions asked happened to be her former rival’s pack. Many years later, they train Silas to be a mobile weapon of vengeance. When Silas finally meets the notorious Alpha Zemo; his real father, will he reveal to the Alpha about his shameful secret? What will happen when the Alpha king finds out that his newly trusted personal guard has a secret of his own, that he is secretly plotting his death and taking over his kingdom? Darkness looms when it was discovered by his mother’s old pack that she went to their rival pack. What will happen when the Alpha realizes that Silas is his only true son? Will he seek forgiveness, hand him over to his old pack or fight him to the death and be merciless against the product of his true love?

At the pack's anniversary dinner party, the Alpha, Matt White, told us to write down the gifts we wanted. He would make sure every request was fulfilled. When it was my turn, the newly arrived intern suddenly snatched the paper and pen out of my hands. "Mr. White works so hard managing the pack. We can't let him spend money on us! You shouldn't write down your dream gift," she said. I ignored her, grabbed the list back, and calmly wrote down one item: a washing machine. Peyton immediately flew into a rage and splashed the champagne on the table straight onto me. "I told you not to write anything down! As a Beta, how can you be so inconsiderate of Mr. White?" My coat was completely soaked, and I looked utterly disheveled. I couldn't hold back my anger anymore. I flung the list straight at her face without mercy. She instantly covered her face and screamed, "How dare you hit me! Do you know who my father is? He's the Alpha King! Even Mr. White has to be polite to him. I'll have you kicked out of the pack for laying a hand on me!" I froze. I was the Alpha King's biological niece. My uncle didn't even have a partner, so how would he have a grown daughter?